The F1 dream: motorsport is seeing revived interest in India, but funds and facilities are hard to come by

Chettipalayam is an idyllic suburb lined with coconut trees and ancestral homes. But only from a distance. As you inch closer to the peri-urban locale in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore, home to the Kari Motor Speedway, the smell of rubber and the bitumen that burns it invades your senses.

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Launched in 2003, the 2.1 km circuit track cries out stories of champions and those charred by it in equal measure. Tales of wild valour, of fanatic racers who refuse to give up their love for the sport, fill the air around the weary track, named after racer S. Karivardhan, who designed and built entry-level Formula cars in the 80s and 90s.